Chorus:
They've got the world in their pocket, pocket, pocket, pocket,
They've got the world in their pocket,
And they're up there in control.
They've got the world in their pocket,
They can shake it, they can rock it,
They can kick it for a goal.
They've got the world in their pocket,
But their pocket's got a hole.

There's inflation and pollution,
Everything's been bought on credit
In this rotten institution,
And they waste the gentle people
Cause the system has no soul,
They've got the world in their pocket,
But their pocket's got a hole.

Unemployment is their glory,
If a million children starve
Why that's an old familiar story,
And there's rage and there's rebellion,
And there's grief from pole to pole.
They've got the world in their pocket,
But their pocket's got a hole.

(Chorus)

Takes a war to keep them perking,
And they have to bleed the world
To keep their bloody system working,
But the system's self-destructing
While they play that gangster role,
They've got the world in their pocket,
But their pocket's got a hole.

They've got the world in their pocket, pocket, pocket, pocket,
They've got the world in their pocket,
And they're up there in control.
They've got the world in their pocket,
But their pocket's got a hole.

Malvina Reynolds songbook(s) in which the music
to this song appears:
---- The Malvina Reynolds Songbook

Other place(s) where the music to this song appears:
---- Sing Out!, Volume 26(6) (1978), pp. 10-11
---- Women's Songbook Project: Out Loud! A Collection of New Songs
by Women (Oakland, CA: Inkworks Press, 1978), pp. 76-77

Malvina Reynolds recording(s) on which this song
is performed:
---- Held Over
---- Malvina Reynolds...Sings the Truth (2008)
---- listen
to youtube.com video

Recordings by other artists on which this song
is performed:
---- Helsingin Laulufestivaallit (Eteenpšin ELP 327, 1975)